The Rangers have signed their second RFA since finishing their regular season, inking forward Brett Howden to a one year deal worth $885,000. The deal comes eight days before lists are due to the league for the NHL expansion draft on July 21st.
Howden is one of the players with an uncertain future on the Rangers, having played almost exclusively on the fourth line since being acquired as part of the deal that sent Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 26th of 2018. With a new coaching staff in place, anything could happen, but Howden’s has not progressed since first breaking into the league in the 2018-19 season.
Priot to the signing, the Rangers would have been forced to expose both Colin Blackwell and Kevin Rooney in the expansion draft, with protected lists due to the NHL July 17th. With Howden signed, Chris Drury now has the option of protecting one of the other forwards, and leaving the 23 year old exposed instead.